A relative of passengers on missing Flight 370 yells at security personnel while she attends a protest outside the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday.

A relative of passengers on missing Flight 370 yells at security personnel while she attends a protest outside the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday.

Photo: AFP / Getty Images

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Bennie Wilson is a senior lecturer in management at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Bennie Wilson is a senior lecturer in management at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

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Reporting on Flight 370 a feeding frenzy

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SAN ANTONIO — We Americans are tremendously proud, even possessive, of the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution, as amended by the Bill of Rights. And while, through the years, there have been differences of opinions and interpretations on the extent and the context of some of the Constitution — the right of individuals to bear arms and the separation of church and state are two that come to mind — other rights and freedoms seem to have survived as written with relative unanimity.

For example, the Founding Fathers minced no words when affirming our freedoms of speech and of the press.

Although the United States is widely considered by the international community as the leading advocate of democratic principles and the free exercise of human liberties, there are times when even it can learn from lapses in ethical and professional behavior in the exercise of hard-earned freedoms.

Such a time presents itself vividly in coverage of the tragic saga of Malaysian Airline Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 with 239 passengers and crew on board. It disappeared on a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing three weeks ago.

Last week, the true nature of this tragedy still was not clear.

As is typical in such catastrophic events, worried and terrified relatives have reacted, and continue to react, with disbelief, anger and other emotional stresses that only they can fully understand. Around the world, particularly in Malaysia and China, they shout for immediate information on what happened, why it happened, the location of the missing plane and the condition of their loved ones.

They angrily charge airline and government officials with conspiracy, malfeasance, lying and incompetence. Given their emotional involvement and the agonizing lack of facts, their reactions are understandable, expected and normal.

What is not normal — or what ought not to be normal — is the feeding frenzy of the print and broadcast news media during this tragic situation. This is particularly true of the news photographers covering the “excitement and drama” of terrified family and friends.

There was the spectacle of photographers pushing each other as they circled and hovered like vultures over a hapless, grieving and protesting relative of a Flight 370 passenger. This was a demeaning and horrific example of “freedom of the press.”

Similarly, but in the safety and comfort of TV studios thousands of miles from the scene, “talking heads” pontificated mindlessly and endlessly on what happened to Flight 370 — asking guest aviation experts inane, repetitive and hollow questions, not only for the sake of dramatic speculation, but for the sake of sheer entertainment.

CNN was particularly egregious in this regard.

This one event does not require a general indictment of news media, but it is an example of some of the excesses of an irresponsible media.

It is well documented that too many of the peoples of the world have been denied the transparency of a free and open press. The vast majority of journalists continue to go into harm's way to shine the light of truth on injustice and inhumanity.

This is a plea for integrity in news reporting and for investigation based on facts rather than on drama, sensationalism and entertainment. It's a request for news commentary based solely on those facts, on common sense, and on ethical and civil discourse that is not at the expense of respect for human dignity and privacy.

Freedom of the press includes the obligation to be a responsible press — one that earns the pivotal place the print and broadcast media have in our democracy.

If they can't do this, they should exercise their rights not to print or to broadcast.